Let’s set the scene: Your organization is future focused and you believe in embracing change. With that, you’ve either already introduced or are about to introduce cutting-edge HR technology to support your talent management strategy and business objectives.
Great move. We’ll dive into making the most out of your investment in a moment.
If you’re still on the fence, here’s a quick overview of the reasons you should invest in employee-centric HR technology:
- It solves productivity challenges by addressing employee wellbeing, engagement, and retention.
- It puts the employee experience at the center and seeks to meet their true needs. Today’s employees know their worth and they want to be a part of organizations where they are valued.
- It helps organizations give their high performers what they need to succeed (and stay!).
- It saves everyone time. Organizations that succeed and remain competitive in today’s pace know they can’t afford to waste this resource.
- It’s online, mobile and easy to use. People don’t want to hassle with outdated processes that tie them down or make tasks laborious.
You can learn more about these points here. But, let’s get back to how you can ensure a successful return on your software investment by facilitating employee engagement.
Leveraging technology as a tool
As we saw in our blog that made a case for treating technology as a tool rather than a fix-it-all solution, the best way to leverage it is by first understanding the employee experience; ensuring that your strategy supports the technology you use (and vice versa); and, of course, selecting the tools that are the right fit for your organization.
But, introducing even the most advanced and powerful HR tools won’t get you very far in reaching your objectives if your employees don’t engage with the technology. To prevent this and to drive maximum ROI, it’s advisable to kick things off with a change management plan – which is what we’ll expand on below.
Ensuring successful take-up among employees
Communicate ahead of time
To get your employees motivated about engaging with a new HR tool, it’s important that you clearly communicate the technology’s value as early on in the process as possible. Each person will need to understand how the introduction of the tool will impact them and what benefits (relating to their role and the organization) they can expect. If they’ve been using other technology, explain why the new tool will be better than the existing one.
It’s also important that you communicate when the change to the new software is scheduled to take place and how they can prepare, if necessary. This isn’t where it ends, though. Throughout the implementation stage, employees should be kept in the loop with important information – for example, where to find resources and support.
Appoint someone to take the lead
Change can be exciting and inspiring, but it can also be unsettling. And, of course, you want to minimize disruption and avoid wasted time during a process of change – after all, the technology has been or is being introduced to help speed up processes.
A great way of facilitating a smooth transition is by appointing someone (or a team) to manage the change process. They would then be responsible for ensuring that everything runs smoothly, according to plan and in line with the schedule, and that any glitches are dealt with efficiently.
The ‘changemaker’ – whether someone in HR, an internal communications representative, or a tech specialist, for example – would also need to take the lead in inspiring employees to embrace the new technology, which we’ll talk more about next.
Get everyone involved
Just as important as it is to have someone managing the adoption process, it’s necessary for other leaders to evangelize the technology at all levels and across all applicable teams. Managers and team leaders can assist the person driving the change by keeping their teams informed, sharing info on the tool’s benefits, getting people excited and offering help where needed.
It’s also a great idea to gather feedback from users, allowing them the opportunity to share their experience with the tool and how it has impacted their work, processes and morale. This will help you make any essential adjustments, as far as possible, early on in the rollout and adoption phases. It’ll also make employees feel that their involvement and thoughts on the matter are recognized and valued.
Going back to the point about keeping communication going, you can also keep people connected, working as a team towards the same goal, and motivated about the technology by sharing success stories!
Host training sessions
Don’t bog employees down with lengthy reading or boring documents, but rather facilitate interactive training sessions where they would receive practical experience using the tool and interesting insight into its functionalities.
You could also use these sessions to reiterate the benefits that employees will experience and how you expect the technology to impact the organization positively as a whole. It’s also helpful to remind users about who or where (e.g. videos, online training, etc.) to turn to for guidance if they get stuck along the way.
Continue conversations during these sessions, and, once again, encourage questions and feedback. After all, you want your employees to feel empowered, enabled, and motivated to perform at their best – with the help of your new HR technology.
Get started now
If you haven’t yet invested in modern HR technology, contact us for a demo and let us equip you to embrace change as you look ahead to the future.